A/N: First off, Happy New Year! :D Okay, so here we are, finally! The last chapter! It has really been fun, and all the reviews and favorites and follows have lit up my world like you wouldn't believe! Thanks everyone for all your support, I hope you enjoy this. I also hope it's not glaringly obvious that I had no idea how to end this thing! :) Enjoy!
By the time the sun had risen high enough over the horizon to snake its way through their kitchen window, Jim had been seated at the table for well over five hours. He'd been awake half the night, and any shut eye he'd been lucky enough to get had been plagued by nightmares. When he'd awoken for the third time in as many hours, drenched in sweat and gasping for breath, the sickening whispers of phaser fire and desperate pleas for help still echoing in his ears, he'd decided enough was enough and escaped to the kitchen.
It was around seven thirty when McCoy trudged in, more asleep than awake, and gladly gulped down the coffee Jim shoved his way. "How long have you been up?" The doctor questioned, grimacing at the bitter taste of the liquid running down his throat.
Jim shrugged nonchalantly, deciding to use the 'Nothing's wrong and I'm one hundred percent alright' routine. The last time he'd attempted to use that one on McCoy was after he'd gotten his drunken ass handed to him in a bar fight on his birthday. It hadn't worked then either.
"How did your chat with Krestridge go?" Leonard continued to push, but again Jim simply shrugged in reply, tracing over scuff marks on the table with one finger.
McCoy sighed heavily before pulling his chair right in front of Jim and plopping into it matter-of-factly. The doctor knew he'd been up most of the night, the dark circles under his tired, red-rimmed eyes were evidence enough. But what he knew didn't matter. McCoy needed to figure out how Jim was doing, mentally not just physically, and Jim's silent shrugs in response to his questions would get him nowhere.
"Listen Jim, I'm not going to pretend that I have any idea what I'm doing here. This, what you're going through, what you lived through, obviously isn't something you can just get over."
"Bones, I've been living just fine for eleven years now. I'm a big boy and I can deal with my problems all by myself so thanks but-"
"Jim that's my point. I'm not gonna tell you that everything will magically be okay, or that everyone will just forget about Tarsus IV. But Jim, you don't have to deal with this alone."
Jim's tired blue eyes snapped up at McCoy with what could only be described as disbelief. "Really?"
"Of course."
"You're not, freaked out?" Jim waited with baited breath for McCoy's reply, eyes wide with genuine curiosity.
McCoy let out a tense sigh, he knew he had to choose his words carefully. "Not in the way you're thinking." He swallowed once before continuing. "Yes I am freaked out that my best friend survived the worst tragedy in interstellar history, who wouldn't be? But I haven't been scared away."
Jim's shoulders sagged with relief, as if a giant weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "I've always been afraid of telling people because once someone knows, everything revolves around that. You can't ever have a regular conversation."
McCoy gave a sad nod in reply, not quite sure what to say in response. Jim's eyes were so full of fire and light, it was almost hard to see the veiled fear hidden behind it all. The kid did a good job of masking his emotions, usually with more intense emotions, but McCoy had become somewhat of an expert when it came to reading James Kirk.
"Bones." Jim grimaced, and Leonard immediately realized he'd misread the doctor's silence.
"No Jim, I'm sorry. I didn't mean- I don't know what to say. I can't promise that this topic won't ever come up again because I just can't predict that. But I'll do my best to keep everything normal between us. I just need you to promise me something in return." McCoy paused, waiting for a reply, but then added as an afterthought, "Actually, two something's."
"You ask so much of me Bones." A coy smile illuminated Jim's face and in a single instant he looked more alive than he had all morning, all month even.
"I'm serious Jim. I need you to promise to come to me if Tarsus ever becomes an issue again."
"Bones, it won't become an issue again. I'm just fine."
"Well there's the second promise I want you to make. If you ever aren't fine, no matter what the reason, I want you to come to me. Deal?"
Jim stared at McCoy's outstretched hand suspiciously before reaching out and shaking vigorously. "Deal. I am fine right now though."
McCoy smiled warily. He knew the kid was lying through his teeth, but he also knew Jim would be fine eventually. It would take time, and it most certainly wouldn't be easy, the soul before him was one with a very tortured past. But McCoy was a doctor, the best doctor in all Star Fleet if Jim's boasting was to be believed. And Jim was Jim. Rash and insane at times, but he was a tough, determined son of a bitch. McCoy was certainly aware of that fact. Together, there wasn't a hardship in the galaxy they wouldn't be able to overcome.
A/N: And there we have it. Hopefully this illuminated some lights on their friendship, how they became such good friends, and just how well they understand one another. Please let me know what you think overall, and keep an eye on my profile! I have more ideas for this fandom in the future, it's just the time to actually write them that I am lacking! Until next time, have a wonderful day/night!
-Spring